Corey Nakatani

Bob Baffert was sitting at a table at Clockers’ Corner on Thursday, fielding questions about all the great horses he has in his barn. A reporter kept asking about Cupid running in the Awesome Again Stakes, but he kept answering about Mubtaahij, who was also in that race.

“He’s a pretty nice horse,” Baffert said of Mubtaahij. “He’s been working really, really well. I wasn’t pointing him to this race but the way he’s worked I thought he deserved a chance to run.”

And run he did. The 3-1 second favorite took a slight lead from an extremely game Midnight Storm at the top of the stretch and won the heavily contested Grade 1 race by 1½ lengths to earn a spot in the...

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